Britons are by far the biggest adopters of contactless payments in Europe as the use of the system continues to climb across the continent, new figures reveal.

More than one billion contactless transactions worth €12.6billion took place in Europe over the last 12 months – a three-fold increase when compared to the same period in 2014, according to Visa Europe.

Britain is the country with the highest number of contactless transactions, with 52.6million worth more than €330million made in March alone, followed by Poland and Czech Republic, with 49.7million and 13.9million transactions respectively.

Contactless cards: The UK issues the highest number of contactless cards, which grew by more than 37 per cent in the 12 months to March, according to Visa Europe

This rapid growth in the UK was fuelled in part by the launch of contactless payments on Transport for London services last September, Visa Europe said.

Separate recent data from the UK Cards Association showed that more than one in 10 contactless transactions in December was made by people paying for using a bus, tube, overground trains or rail in London.

The contactless payment system enables people to pay for items by swiping their card on a reader instead of typing in their pin number.

Share this article

HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP

In the UK, the current limit for a single contactless transaction is £20, although from September 1 a higher limit of £30 will be introduced.

The data reveals that consumers were most likely to use contactless for everyday purchases such as groceries, restaurant meals and convenience food and drink.

But in Czech Republic and Poland, where there is no limit on the amount that can be spent via contactless, people also paid for higher value items such as their weekly grocery shop.

The UK issues the highest number of contactless cards, with the number issued rising by more than 37 per cent in the 12 months to March, while Spain has most terminals, Visa Europe said.

Across the continent, 131million Visa contactless cards are carried in the pockets and purses of consumers, of which 49.6million are in the UK.

Contactless terminals: There are more than 2.6million of them across Europe, with Spain having the highest number at 593,000

There are more than 2.6million contactless terminals across Europe, of which 593,000 are in Spain. By 2020 all Visa point-of-sale terminals in Europe will accept contactless payments.

Sandra Alzetta, executive director of core products at Visa Europe, said: ‘Contactless momentum continues to build as more and more people discover it's often the quickest and most convenient way to pay for everyday things.

She added: ‘The popularity of contactless will only increase in future as we experience the next generation of digital payments, where the simplicity and convenience is extended to mobile and wearable NFC technology.’

Visa Europe is a payments technology business owned and operated by member banks and other payment service providers from 37 countries across Europe.

It is the largest transaction processor in Europe, responsible for processing more than 16billion transactions annually.